2018-07-26
"Dumb management is by no means a public sector duty" responded Mamuka Bakhtadze, Prime Minister of Georgia to the question posed by journalists in reference with an offer made by Saknakhshiri JSC.
According to the Head of the Government of Georgia, this significant and vital asset as coal may be deemed in Georgia, should have a long-term development strategy.
"We need to know how the sector will develop, what will be its advantages and what support will be required from the authorities to maintain and potentially increase the employment. Our goal is to see a specific strategy, which will be easily comprehended by citizens, especially the local population. Projections on the operation of the enterprise and jobs need to be foreseeable. We are working very hard towards this end and I even stated that this is a very important sector for us. Nevertheless, nothing may prevail over the life and safety of humans. I thus decided what has already been announced - to close down all the dumbs until the Expertise Opinions are released in two areas: first and foremost, investigation is led my the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. You may well be aware that a number of recommendations have been issued towards the enterprise to improve the labor safety standards at the dumb. Investigation covers this issue to let us know what exactly led to the tragedy and to what extent were those recommendations adhered to. Second of all, engineering-technical examination should be carried out by an international organization or group of experts, which are reputed for having high caliber professionalism. We and entire society of Georgia will thus know what needs to be done as a shared effort to prevent such human tragedies from happening in future" stated the Prime Minister of Georgia.
According to the Head of the Government of Georgia, sector needs a long-term development strategy and authorities should get convinced that the enterprise has all the capacity and means to deliver it.
"I no longer wish to run the enterprise is not a proper answer in this case. There is a sense of responsibility. Huge tragedy has occurred and this is not the first case. This is not a normal course of action. We are talking about a serious matter here and treat the case with full consciousness. We stand ready to assist any investor or company, but we will have a thorough discussion inter alia with the enterprise officials after those two Expertise Opinions are released" concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
Prime Minister's Press Office